All-Knowing and Trustworthy

Have you ever met a "know it all" - at least, that's what Mom called a person who seemed to "think" he or she knew everything and didn't mind sharing it! I've heard that it's better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak and remove all doubt! Psalm 139 is one of the greatest chapters in Scripture as it speaks to the only One Who has all knowledge - that is, God Himself. David writes, "You know when I sit down and when I rise up; You understand my thought from afar. You scrutinize my path and my lying down, and are intimately acquainted with all my ways. Even before there is a word on my tongue, Behold, O Lord, You know it all." (Psalm 139:2-4 NASB). God is omniscient - He is All-Knowing; there is nothing about me or you or anything else that God does not know! He knows each one of us better than we know ourselves! Furthermore, God is completely trustworthy with all that information; what do I mean by that? Well, Verse 5 says, "You have enclosed (encircled) me behind and before, and [You have] placed Your hand upon me." God's intimate knowledge of His children is safe with Him; He uses it to protect and help us, caring for us in ways we cannot fully imagine.  I'm fairly confident none of us could trust such intimate and complete knowledge with one another - not even our closest friends - because we are sinful and have a tendency to deal harshly and judgmentally with each other at times. That is never God's purpose: "I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope." (Jeremiah 29:11 NASB). We can take comfort and joy in our All-Knowing God - Who knows us altogether - to use His knowledge always for our good and His glory. Praise be to The Father ... All-Knowing and Trustworthy.

Christ at Home

Common [Southern] words of hospitality are “help yourself” or “make yourself at home.”   Now, that doesn’t necessarily mean get up and do it yourself or to kick your shoes off nor is it an invitation to take a seat in Mister Bill’s recliner! It’s no secret how deeply the Apostle Paul loved and was devoted to Jesus Christ.  Why, then, would he write these words: “For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ  for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh.” (Romans 9:3, ESV).  This tells us he was willing to relinquish all Christ was to him for the sake of his friends – those who didn’t know Jesus his Savior.  I suspect few of us fully comprehend the seriousness of Paul’s statement.  Oswald Chambers puts it like this: “Paul said he knew how to be a ‘doormat’ without resenting it, because the mainspring of his life was devotion to Jesus.”  Here, God [through Paul] is describing the depth of commitment He longs for.  Paul’s relinquishing of himself to God is also heard in these words, “I will most gladly spend and be spent …” (2 Corinthians 12:15).  You see, not easily but quite simply, God wants to hear us say, “Father, come on in – make Yourself at home in my heart." It's the home He desires most.

Hear Him Speak

Most vehicles today come with many things ... automatic: for example, windows, door locks, mirror adjustments, etc. Driving Mister Bill's truck recently, I was re-introduced to hand-crank windows and manual door locks; I gave up on adjusting the side mirrors! In times of Bible apps, podcasts, and online church, it seems lots of Believers have abandoned good, old-fashioned, personal Bible study. Don't get me wrong, I listen to podcasts as I drive and use a Bible app as I am waiting, but those wonderful tools cannot (and should not) replace a personal time of opening God's Word and digging Its precious treasures in The Presence of Its Author. Read just a few things written about the days in which we now live: 1 Timothy 4:1 - "in later times some will depart from the faith" ... Matthew 24:11 - "false prophets will arise and lead many astray" ... Matthew 24:12 - "the love of many will grow cold." I wonder how much of the falling away, the departing from faith, the being led astray can be attributed to God's children's failure to devote personal time to God's Word - the lamp to our feet and the light to our path (Psalm 119:105). We've become content and satisfied listening to what God has said to someone else, what someone else has dug from the riches of God's Word, and we do not see the need to do the diggin' ourselves. Be sure, hand-cranking that window wasn't all that fun - I'd much prefer my own car with its electric windows; God has called each of us to know Him, and it will never be enough for a true disciple to hear about Jesus. Let me encourage you to blow the dust off that Bible, open it, and let God speak to you personally through His timeless words of truth. Yes ... hear Him speak.

Life of Faithfulness

Why we do what-we-do is usually an interesting consideration. For example, why I buy a particular brand of corn meal can be traced back to the brand my Mom bought. Whether it is the best brand or not is irrelevant; since it was good enough for Mom, it's good enough for me! Mister Bill and I have been reading through the Book of Genesis, and right now we're studying the life of Joseph, one of the two sons of Jacob and Rachel. The way God wove His divine purpose through the many difficult circumstances of Joseph's life is amazing. If there was ever one in Scripture to become discouraged and give-up, I suggest it was Joseph. What we see, however, is a young man whose faith was about as steadfast as anyone mentioned elsewhere in Scripture. We read, "The Lord was with Joseph, and he became a successful man" (Genesis 39:2) ... "But the Lord was with Joseph and showed him steadfast love" (Genesis 39:21). Through all of Joseph's struggles, he remained faithful, and why? In the words of Dr. J. Vernon McGee, "his faith made him faithful." Yes, Joseph had a right view of his God: "The Lord is faithful ... He will establish you and guard you against the evil one" (2 Thessalonians 3:3 ESV). Joseph had heard of the promises of God and seen evidence of their sureness in the generations of his family. He knew "the steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness." (Lamentations 3:22-23 ESV). We may not always answer sufficiently why we do-what-we-do but never let us hesitate to know that it is a right and sound faith in the eternally Faithful One that leads us to a ... life of faithfulness.

Best Shape

In recent years, there have been movies that feature "shape-shifters" - fictional characters with the ability to transform their bodies into different forms, which they use for good or evil. While such a being is purely fictional, I suggest that spiritual shape-shifting actually exists! My pastor asked this question recently: "what is shaping your life?" He was, of course, speaking of one's spiritual shape, and it's a very good question! Every person's belief system is formed by something, literally many things. That on which we feed our minds and hearts build the truths that determine our ideas and responses toward God and others. When we readily accept the world's trendy and fluid truths, we end up with a non-Biblical worldview that easily conformed to change rendered us spiritual ... shape-shifters. Oh, how critical and essential it is remain firm - to retain our shape - by seeing God's Word as the eternal truth It is: Jesus said, "Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away" (Matthew 24:35 ESV). There is nothing more comforting, more re-assuring, more steadying than holding to The One Who changeless and Whose Word is likewise unchangeable! Are you guilty of spiritual shape-shifting? If God's Truth is your one and only truth, rest assured you are in the ... best shape.